{"id":33130,"date":"2025-06-22T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T08:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=33130"},"modified":"2025-06-20T15:12:38","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T15:12:38","slug":"richard-wagners-the-ring-of-the-nibelung-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/06\/22\/richard-wagners-the-ring-of-the-nibelung-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Richard Wagner\u2019s The Ring of the Nibelung"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nAdapted by P. Craig Russell<\/strong>, translated by Patrick Mason<\/strong>, with Lovern Kindzierski<\/strong> & Galen Showman<\/strong> (Dark Horse)
\nISBN: 978-1-61655-401-9 (HB) eISBN 978-1-63008-154-6<\/p>\n

This book includes some Discriminatory Content<\/strong> included for dramatic effect. <\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re planning on being in Germany next month, music lovers are reminded that THE BAYREUTH FESTIVAL is performing Wagner\u2019s superhero-inspiring RING CYCLE (Das Rheingold<\/strong>:26 July – Schwarz\/Young, Die Walk\u00fcre<\/strong>: 27 July – Schwarz\/Young, Parsifal<\/strong>: 28 July – Scheib\/Heras-Casado and Siegfried<\/strong>: 29 July – Schwarz\/Young. If you check out or even take this tasty tome along, you may achieve a far greater understanding of the text and even certain leitmotif…\u00a0 but probably not most of the prevailing attitudes, bad manners and big fancy hats… <\/em><\/p>\n

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  1. Craig Russell began his illustrious career in comics during the early 1970s: coming to fame early for a groundbreaking run on science fiction adventure series Killraven<\/strong>, Warrior of the Worlds<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Russell\u2019s fanciful, meticulous classicist style was derived from the great illustrators of Victorian\/Edwardian heroic fantasy and was greatly at odds with the sausage-factory deadlines and sensibilities of the mainstream comic book industry. By the 1980s he had largely retired from the merciless daily grind, preferring to work on his own projects (mostly adapting operas and plays into sequential narratives) whilst undertaking occasional high-profile Special Projects for the majors – such as Dr. Strange Annual<\/strong> 1976 (totally reworked and re-released as the magnificent Dr. Strange: What Is It that Disturbs You, Stephen? <\/strong>in 1996) or Batman: Robin 3000<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    As the industry grew up and a fantasy boom began, he returned to comics with 1982\u2019s Marvel Graphic Novel: Elric<\/strong>, further adapting Michael Moorcock\u2019s iconic sword-&-sorcery star in the magazine Epic Illustrated<\/strong> and elsewhere. Russell\u2019s stage-arts adaptations had begun appearing in 1978: firstly in groundbreaking independent Star*Reach<\/strong> specials Night Music<\/strong> and Parsifal<\/strong> and then, from 1984, at Eclipse Comics where the revived Night Music<\/strong> became an anthological series showcasing his earlier experimental adaptations: not only the operatic dramas but also tales from Kipling\u2019s Jungle Books<\/strong> and other sources.<\/p>\n

    As mainstream comics rapidly matured, his stylings were seen in Vertigo titles like The Sandman <\/strong>and Mike Mignola\u2019s Hellboy<\/strong> titles. He never, however, abandoned his love of operatic drama. In 2003 Canadian publisher NBM began a prodigious program to collect all those music-based masterpieces into The P. Craig Russell Library of Opera Adaptations<\/strong>, but just before that, the artist took a couple of years (2000 – 2001) to complete a passion project. Originally released as a procession of linked miniseries – The Ring of the Nibelung: The Rhinegold<\/strong> #1-4, The Ring of the Nibelung: The Valkyrie <\/strong>#1-3, The Ring of the Nibelung: Siegfried<\/strong> #1-3 and The Ring of the Nibelung: G\u00f6tterd\u00e4mmerung<\/strong> #1-4 – Russell and his regular collaborator Lovern Kindzierski adapted Richard Wagner\u2019s masterpiece to comics. His wasn\u2019t the first, but it\u2019s most certainly the best.<\/p>\n

    Collected in a stunning single volume the Teutonic saga is augmented by a Preface<\/em> from music critic and scholar Michael Kennedy, an Introduction<\/em> by comics star Matt (no relation) Wagner, and is followed by Russell\u2019s fascinating, heavily-illustrated essay \u2018What is an Adaptation?\u2019<\/em>: describing his thinking, creative process and philosophy in the crafting of this epic, whilst offering an intimate peek into how the magic was made along via a range of pencil, ink and\/or fully-coloured sketches and art studies as well as the entire gallery of covers from the original comics.<\/p>\n

    The four operas Das Rheingold<\/em><\/strong>, Die Walk\u00fcre<\/em><\/strong>, Siegfried<\/em><\/strong> and G\u00f6tterd\u00e4mmerung<\/em><\/strong> (or Twilight of the Gods<\/strong> if you\u2019re less pompous or well-travelled than me) is a classic distillation of Germano-Norse myth and the poems collected as the Icelandic Eddas. Over 26 years the master of German music distilled them into a cycle of staggering power, which people either love or hate. Great tunes, too.<\/p>\n

    Doesn\u2019t absolutely everybody love the brilliant animated tribute-come-distillation starring Bugs Bunny<\/strong> entitled \u2018What\u2019s Opera, Doc?\u2019<\/em> They probably refer to it as \u201cKill the Wabbit!\u201d though. <\/em>Joking aside, the Ring Cycle is a true masterpiece of Western Culture and immortal inspiration to purveyors of drama and historic fiction. In 1989 and 1990 long-time fans and comics superstars Roy Thomas (who\u2019d already integrated the plot into the canon of Marvel\u2019s Mighty Thor<\/strong>) and Gil Kane produced a 4-part, prestige-format miniseries that adapted the events into comic strip form. That\u2019s superbly impressive, but trust me, Russell\u2019s is in a league of its own…<\/p>\n

    Bold, bright, glittering and tightly adhering to the rhythms and staging of the theatre version – thanks to translator Patrick Mason\u2019s deft contribution – it all begins with the creation of the world…
    \n\"\"
    \nAt some time later, Alberich the Nibelung<\/em> is a hideous troglodytic Dwarf shunned by all, but smart enough to outwit the three haughty Rhine Maidens<\/em>. Commanded to guard an accursed treasure horde even the Gods cannot tame, the river nymphs reveal the secret to the glib intruder. Whoever casts The Rhinegold<\/em> into a ring will have all the wealth and power of the world, but must forever forswear love and joy. Never having known either, greedy Alberich readily and scornfully forsakes these dubious emotional necessities and seizes the treasure even All-Father Voton<\/em> feared to touch.<\/p>\n

    Meanwhile, wily Log\u00e9<\/em> has convinced Voton to promise giants Fasolt<\/em> and Fafnir<\/em> anything they wish if they build the great castle Valhalla to house the world\u2019s heroes. Assured that the trickster god can free him from his promise to the giants, the All-Father and Preserver of Oaths accepts their price, but on completion the giants demand possession of Freia<\/em>; goddess of the apples of immortality.<\/p>\n

    Bound by their Lord\u2019s sworn oath, the gods must surrender Freia, but malicious Log\u00e9 suggests that Alberich\u2019s stolen gold – now reshaped into a finger-ring – can be used by any other possessor without abandoning love. The brothers then demand the world-conquering trinket as a replacement fee… and no god can sway or deter them. The course is set to disaster!<\/p>\n

    Second miniseries The Valkyrie<\/strong> sees an earthly warrior calling himself \u201cWoeful\u201d<\/em> as the sole survivor of a blood-feud. Fleeing, he claims Right of Hospitality from a beautiful woman in a remote cottage. However, when her husband Hunding <\/em>returns, they all discover that he belongs to the clan Woeful recently slaughtered so many of…<\/p>\n

    Secure for the night under the sacrosanct bond of Hospitality, Woeful realises he must fight for his life in the morning when the sacred truce expires. Without weapons, he counts little for his chances until the woman reveals to him a magic sword embedded in the giant Ash tree that supports the house. Unfortunately, the gods have already decreed that there can be no happy ending to be won, only further sin and shame and the fall of Voton\u2019s most beloved servant Brunhild\u00e9<\/em>…
    \n\"\"
    \nSixteen years later, Siegfried<\/strong> is the child of an illicit union, raised by malicious, cunning Mime<\/em>: a blacksmith who knows the secrets of the Nibelung. No loving parent, the metal-shaper wants the indomitable wild boy to kill a dragon (Fafnir, who was once a giant) and steal the magical golden horde the monster so jealously guards. Of course, the young hero has his own heroic dreams and faces the fearsome firedrake for his own reasons: glory, fame, pride and because he wishes to awaken an otherworldly maiden who slumbers eternally behind a wall of fire!
    \n\"\"
    \nYears of plotting and treachery and the inescapable onerous burden of fate culminate in G\u00f6tterd\u00e4mmerung<\/strong> as all the machinations, faithlessness and oath-breaking of truly flawed divinities lead to their ultimate destruction. Siegfried has won his beauteous Brunhild\u00e9 from the flames but their happiness is not to be. False friends Hagen<\/em> and Gunther<\/em> drug him to steal his beloved, simultaneously betrothing the befuddled hero to a woman he does not love. Final betrayal by a comrade – whose father was Alberich – leads to his death and the inevitable fall of all that is!<\/p>\n

    If you know the operas you know how much more remains to enjoy in this quartet of tales, and the scintillating passion and glowing beauty the art magnificently captures the grandeur and tragedy of it all. This primal epic is visual poetry and no fan should be without it.
    \n\u00a9 2000, 2001, 2014 P. Craig Russell. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Adapted by P. Craig Russell, translated by Patrick Mason, with Lovern Kindzierski & Galen Showman (Dark Horse) ISBN: 978-1-61655-401-9 (HB) eISBN 978-1-63008-154-6 This book includes some Discriminatory Content included for dramatic effect. If you\u2019re planning on being in Germany next month, music lovers are reminded that THE BAYREUTH FESTIVAL is performing Wagner\u2019s superhero-inspiring RING CYCLE … <\/p>\n

    Continue reading “Richard Wagner\u2019s The Ring of the Nibelung”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[80,239,102,328,148,256,156],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adaptations","category-drama","category-fantasy","category-music","category-romance","category-sword-sorcery","category-world-classics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8Cm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33130"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33137,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33130\/revisions\/33137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}